Trials and Tribulations of Team 13
by Ringo Slayts
Summary: 13 is an unlucky number, or is it? For Team 13 of Konoha its a mixed relationship. Tragedy mark their past and future. But opportunity and good fortune is scattered along the road of destiny. Find out how the team fairs in this on going series.


In Konohagakure, three people pay their respects to those fallen in combat at a memorial stone. One of them, an older teenager with black hair that covered part of his face and fell to the base of his shoulders adjusted his leaf headband. The sun reflected off of his deep blue eyes. He and the others all wore the chunin vests and outfits of other Konoha shinobi. Looking to the other two people, a boy and girl of about the same age

"Reiko, Ayame, lets go. We have a meeting with the Hokage."

The one named Reiko had spiked dark blue hair. He wore his headband slanted across his head, so you could see clearly he was leaf. Perhaps his most distinguishing feature was his very orange eyes. Reiko nodded in agreement and looked to Ayame. She was sitting cross legged on a large rock. Her silver hair fell to her lower back and her head band was proudly displayed around her neck. Her hazel eyes stood out against her pale face.

Getting up from the rock she spoke to the boy with black hair. "B or C rank today, Kasai?"

"B rank protection and escort" He replied "The client is some old man who is a doctor, one of the few traveling doctors in the Land of Fire. We're supposed to protect him from any thieves and bandits that are after his medicines." Kasai started up the path. "If you two don't come on, we'll be late."

Ayame sighed "Always in a hurry Kasai."

Hearing this he stopped and tuned around. "Well apparently someone doesn't recall what Tsunade-sama did the last time we were late."

Reiko quickly grabbed Ayames hand and pulled her towards the path Kasai was taking. "I'm not getting thrown out a window again." he mumbled at her.

Kasai chuckled. "You kind of deserved that. Not only did we miss the mission by three hours, but then you had to make up the excuses that only got us in more trouble."

Ayame giggled at the memory. "Yeah, never tell the Hokage that you were too hung over too complete your mission safely." Reiko blushed.

At the Hokage's mansion the team arrived early enough to have to wait in line. "Team Thirteen your up next." Kasai, Reiko, and Ayame approached the table. Reiko looked at Tsunade. "Sober enough to complete your mission Reiko?" she asked mockingly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Reiko replied.

Tsunade smirked. "Well Team Thirteen, here is your mission over view." She handed a scroll to Ayame. "The Doctor is in waiting Room G, his name is Sinji Armani and you three are to treat him with the up most respect."

The three simultaneously answered "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade smiled with approval. "Now, be gone."

The trio departed for Room G. Ayame slid the door open and walked in. "Mr. Sinji? Your escorts are here."

A balding man stood up, grabbed his bag and walked over to her. He was a tall skinny man with a brown suit jacket and pants to match.

Ayame smiled to greet him. "Right this way." She led him into the room were Reiko and Kasai waited. As they entered, Kasai and Reiko stood respectively.

Kasai stepped forward. "Mr. Sinji, I am Kanto Kasai and the man on my right is Iskin Reiko. And you've already met Hanabo Ayame. We are to get you to the town of Pakush, five miles east of Konoha, safely. We shall do our best and put are lives on the line for yours."

Sinji Armani did not smile or say thank you. Instead he looked at them and said. "You'll do what I'm paying you to do, which is too get me to the next town safely as you said. So don't try to impress me with all this fancy bull shit."

Reiko opened his mouth to say something but Ayame slapped her hand over it. "Don't."

Kasai led the way out, adjusting his tool bag on his leg. Once they were outside the mansion he turned to the group.

"We'll just stick to the trails and roads, that'll be the quickest way. If we encounter any bandits...well, you guys know the drill. Lets move."

They headed towards the main gate. As they approached someone called Kasai's name. He looked towards the voice, and it was the exact person he wanted to see before leaving.

Yamanaka Ino came running up to him, jumped, and flung her arms around his neck. After letting go of him, she looked at Kasai. "So were are you headed on you mission?"

Kasai smiled at her. "We're headed to Pakush, now I'd love to stay and talk but we really must be going."

Ino was a bit saddened but at the same time she understood. "OK, well, be careful and come back in one piece."

Kasai's smile widened a bit. "I always do." He gave her a hug and then continued on towards the gate. Ayame looked at Reiko and they exchanged a sly look.

Reiko fell in next to Kasai. "So, you and Ino, things are um... things are getting a bit serious, eh?"

Kasai sighed. "Please, a hug and a 'good luck' is nothings getting serious."

"Not yet at least." Ayame put in.

"Well Ayame, that wasn't what he asked."

Reiko had that same sly look on his face again. "Technically I didn't _ask _anything."

Kasai was starting to get annoyed. "How about we just drop it."

"Please." Armani said, even more annoyed.

They had gone about two and a half miles when Kasai turned to Ayame. "Where is Reiko now?"

Ayame mumbled something into her mic, and her eyes widened a bit to Reiko's response. "Um, he's about five hundred yards up the road and theres two bandits. Both are armed, and he says one has a scythe and the other a pair of nunchaku."

Kasai thought for a minute. "Tell him to keep us updated. We'll just keep moving forward until we're about 100 yards away. Then we'll immobilize the party and safely move on."

Ayame nodded and informed Reiko of the plan. She then looked at the doctor. "Mr. Sinji, there could be a little trouble up ahead. But its really nothing to worry about."

Armani just grumbled something that sounded like "Ok"

A little while later they were closing in on the bandits, when Reiko reported he had lost sight of the duo. Ayame informed Kasai.

"Alright, defensive positions, and tell Reiko to relocate closer to us."

"Already have." Reiko replied standing right next to Kasai.

The team surrounded Mr. Sinji with Ayame on his right, Kasai to the left, and Reiko bringing up the rear. For a few minutes everything was silent, no birds, no insects, only the wind. Then something shinny caught Reiko's attention. Almost before he could react, a huge blade came swinging out low to the ground.

"Jump!" was all the warning Reiko could manage.

Kasai and Ayame grabbed Armani and hoisted him into the air with them, landing in a tree. The blade came back towards them with great speed. Reiko threw a kunai at the blade to knock it off course.

"Ayame cover Mr. Sinji." Kasai said.

As the blade and the kunai connected, Kasai saw the chain it was attached to and he quickly grabbed it. Summoning some strength Kasai pulled the the chain towards him. The bandit holding the shaft portion of the scythe came flying out of the brush.

Reiko was there in a flash,. He punched the bandit in the chest then knocked him to the ground with an elbow to his spine.

Kasai walked over to Reiko. "Ok, theres him, but there should still be one..."

A body fell from the tree were Ayame and Armani were. The body was followed by a broken pair of nunchaku.

"Oh come on Ayame! Did ya really have to stab the guy?" Reiko asked laughing.

Ayame returned to the ground with Armani. "He tried to hit me with those nunchuck things." She replied without smiling.

Armani ignored the team and walked over to the two bandits. He threw down his bag, which popped open when it landed. The doctor removed the kunai from the bandit's ribs with one hand, and with the other he applied antibiotic gel. In one swift movement Armani was stitching the wound, after which he applied medical tape and more gel. Armani bent over the other bandit and felt his chest. He made a few hand signs and then pushed down on the bandits sternum. A few small popping noises could be heard as the bone reformed. Armani finished up and put his supplies back in his bag.

"They'll be out for a few, but the be fine. We can move on now."

As they continued down the road, Reiko noticed that Armani seemed different now, happy almost.

"Mr. Sinji, how come you didn't use ninjutsu to heal the stab wound? Wouldn't that have been easier?"

Armani sighed. "For someone young like you or highly skilled like Tsunade-sama, yes. But for an old man like me jutsus are hard to perform due to the fact that I have very little chakra anymore. I save my chakra for something that my tools cannot fix, such as the man's broken bones. And that was one helluva punch."

Reiko smiled. "Thanks, and if you don't mind me pointing out, you seem, well, happier."

Armani kept walking. "My work is the only thing that brings me joy. We see so much death these days, but when you save a life, it really brightens your day."

They crested a hill and below them was the town of Pakush. The team walked Armani to the gate.

"Thank you, for getting me here"

Reiko grinned. "No need for thanks, its what we do."

With that Sinji Armani left the group and Team Thirteen returned home.

"Two bandits eh? Sounds exciting." Tsunade said after Ayame told her about the mission. "Sigh, thats actually the most interesting thing I've heard all day. Its just so slow around here. Slow enough that you guys, Team Thirteen are done for today."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama" Kasai replied.

Reiko was a bit less...formal, in fact, he had already left.

"Thanks again Hokage-sama" Ayame yelled on her way out.

Kasai walked with her down the road. "So, got any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well, me and Reiko are suppose to grab lunch, if I can find him" Ayame replied.

They continued walking for a little while longer.

"Well, I think I'm gonna nap for a little while on my day off."

Ayame laughed at Kasai's idea. "Yeah right, you'll be out and about in less than an hour."

They both laughed and parted ways.

Kasai walked into his upstairs apartment and then into his bedroom. He sat down on his bed, removed his tool bag and laid down. Kasai reflected on the days mission, what went well, and what could have gone better. All in all everything was good except Reiko losing sight of them. That could've been a catastrophe, but things worked themselves out and they would just have to do some more training in tracking. He let out a deep breath and was then calm.

Meanwhile Reiko sat on a stump in the training field, legs crossed, at one with his surroundings. Though his eyes were closed, he knew there were three or four birds in the sky and a squirrel about twenty yards away.

"Next time you won't escape my sight." He whispered to himself.

The sound of grass and leaves crunching caught his attention, and he opened his eyes to see who approached.

Uzumaki Naruto stood before him "Meditating eh?"

Reiko grinned. "Yeah and training a bit at the same time." He jumped off of the stump. "What are you up to Naurto?"

"Ah, not much. Just came out to practice a bit. Wanna help?"

Reiko tightened his headband and Naruto grinned

"I'll take that as a 'yes'" He jumped back and made two shadow clones, but as soon as the on to Naruto's right was made, it burst into smoke, and three shuriken hit the tree directly behind him.

"Not bad Reiko." Naruto thrust his elbow behind him and caught Reiko in the chest. "You distracted me by destroying me clone so early that I didn't even see ya move."

Reiko stumbled then back flipped away. "Your pretty good yourself." He replied.

Reiko made a hand sign, and kunai appeared from thin air and flew at Naruto. He was hit by many of them.

Panting, Naruto looked up. "I can break your genjutsu, don't underestimate me."

But as Naruto started summoning the energy, Reiko ran at him.

Naruto broke the genjutsu in time to see Reiko sliding across the ground.

Reiko kicked Naruto into the air, and then made another hand sign. "Katon, Housenka no Jutsu!"

Reiko spat fire from his mouth at Naruto.

As the fire closed in though, a stream of water hit Naruto out of the way, and he fell to the ground soaked.

"Sorry about that Naruto, but Reiko has a promise to keep." Ayame was standing by the edge of the pond, looking very pissed off.

Naruto got up "We'll finish this another time, Reiko."

Reiko gave him a high five as Naruto left.

Ayame walked up to Reiko. "I would've splashed you instead of Naruto, he could've dodged that, but I didn't want to have to wait any longer for you."

Reiko grinned. "If he could've, then why didn't he?"

Ayame looked at him seriously. "Because he saw me and how pissed I was heading for you! Probably scared him to much to react!"

Reiko took a step back. "Calm down, I was going to be on time."

That didn't console Ayame at all.

"On time maybe, but I don't want to sit in a restaurant with someone who is sweaty and bleeding and covered in dirt! And do not, tell me to calm down!"

Reiko stood there for a second without saying anything, then.

"I'm sorry Ayame, but I didn't want to pass up some good training with Naruto."

Ayame still looked unhappy.

"And I'm sorry that I didn't wait up for you. Lets go get lunch and later we'll do dinner. I'll buy both."

Ayame grinned. "Damn right you will!" She took his hand and they bother walked back to town.

Kasai couldn't fall asleep. He felt tired,but sleep would not receive him. He gave in and sat up. At that same time, there was a knock on the door. Getting up, Kasai walked from his bedroom to the living room at a rather sluggish pace.

Opening the door all of his sleepiness vanished. "Come on in!"

Ino entered the room and took a seat on the couch. "Normally you come and get me after you missions." She smiled coyly.

Kasai sat down in a chair opposite of the couch Ino was sitting on. "I was tired, I don't get simple missions like you!"

"Uh! Medical missions aren't simple, they require less combat most of the time, but medical ninjutsu takes a lot of chakra." Ino kept talking about how more complex her job was compared to Kasai's.

Kasai was now in the kitchen getting them both a drink. When he came back out he looked at Ino with a more serious look in his eyes.

"ANBU is accepting new members soon. I'm gonna try out."

Ino took a small sip of her tea. "Why would you want to?"

Kasai looked confused. "What do you mean?"

Ino looked him in the eyes. "Isn't Team Thirteen like _your _team? Aren't they your best friends? Why leave that?" Ino often worried about Kasai when he was away, and ANBU was known to have some long missions.

Kasai thought about what Ino had said.

"Yes, I'd be leaving the team, but its not like I'm leaving my friends. If and when I get into ANBU its not like I'm going to replace them as friends. You've got to trust me, I'm doing whats best for me"

He took her hand. "And us."

Ino looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes she pulled her hand away.

"How is this whats best for us?! How is you risking your life to track down some killer or infiltrate a gang best for us? Huh? There are other people, other ANBU members who can handle it, let them! Don't put your self in harms way, just so you can have a bit more money and more excitement."

She put her face into her hands, trying not to sob.

Then she felt an arm around her waist and she leaned against Kasai and cried freely.

"I...I ju...I just don't want you to get hurt" she managed to say between sobs.

Kasai didn't know how to comfort her. He had wanted to be in ANBU ever since his mother joined when he was seven. Kasai's father died when the Kyubi attacked the village years ago, and since then his mother was his number one role model.

"Ino,"

Kasai had to think for a moment.

"You know that being a shinobi means risking your life for others and the village. And even with medical nin like you, people are still severely injured and killed. But thats a risk thousands of shinobi take every day. And I'd rather die serving the village than sitting here eating chips or something."

Ino laughed at his comparison. "I just don't want you to end up like Fuzieh."

Ino's reply stung Kasai.

Azikia Fuzieh had been the fourth member of Team Thirteen. He attained Jonin at a young age. Two months before the current, Team Thirteen was on a mission along the Sunagakure/Konohagakure border.

In the blink of an eye Fuzieh was gone. After the enemy was supposedly defeated, Fuzieh paid the ultimate price of a shinobi.


End file.
